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Florida Court Rejects Third Party Record Title Holder’s Attempts to Prevent Foreclosure Sale

The District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, recently affirmed the trial court’s denial of a third party record title holder’s motion to cancel a mortgage foreclosure sale, even though the third party movant acquired title in a prior homeowners association lien foreclosure action, and even though the third party movant alleged that the mortgagee thwarted its redemption rights by supposedly failing to provide an estoppel letter. A copy of the opinion in Whitburn, LLC v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is available at:  Link to Opinion. In December 2012, a mortgagee filed a foreclosure action along with a lis pendens against…

Florida Court Holds FCCPA Preempts Florida’s Offer of Judgment Statute

The County Court of the 13th Judicial Circuit in and for Hillsborough County, Florida, recently struck a mortgagee’s and servicer’s offer of judgment in an action under the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, holding in a matter it deemed of great public importance that the FCCPA preempts Florida’s Offer of Judgment statute. A copy of the order in Hall, Harold v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company is available here: Link to Order. In May 2013, a borrower filed a one-count complaint against defendants, a mortgagee and its loan servicer, alleging a violation of the FCCPA. The defendants filed an offer of judgment pursuant…

8th Cir. Upholds Summary Judgment for Investor in Loan Repurchase Action

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently affirmed summary judgment against the seller and originator of mortgage loans and in favor of the purchaser because the originator breached the purchase and sale agreement by refusing to cure or repurchase eight of the 11 loans. A copy of the opinion in CitiMortgage, Inc. v. Chicago Bancorp, Inc. is available at:  Link to Opinion. The plaintiff mortgage loan investor purchased mortgage loans originated by the defendant lender in 2004. The plaintiff’s business involved re-selling most of its loans to other investors in the secondary mortgage market. The purchase and sale agreement required the…

Bankruptcy Court Holds TCPA Revocation of Consent Must Be ‘Express and Clear’

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida recently held that: 1)  A bankruptcy trustee was entitled to recover $1,000 in statutory damages on behalf of each of the husband and wife debtors against a loan servicer for violating the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA) by contacting the debtors after they were represented by counsel; and 2)  The servicer could not set off the $2,000 in FCCPA damages against the balance owed on the mortgage loan because, according to the Court, allowing a set off would thwart the FCCPA’s goal of deterring abusive debt collection practices; and…

1st Cir. Holds ‘Fairly Conducted’ Sale of Collateral Not Necessarily ‘Commercially Reasonable’

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently held that a genuine dispute of material fact precluded summary judgment on the issue of whether the sale of collateral was “commercially reasonable,” even though there was no evidence that the sale was not “fairly conducted.” A copy of the opinion in Harley-Davidson Credit Corp. v. Galvin is available at: Link to Opinion. The assignee of a loan secured by an interest in an aircraft sued the guarantor of the loan to collect $108,681.50, the deficiency that remained after the assignee sold the collateral through a third-party dealer. Pursuant to the loan…

Missouri Federal Court Says ‘Benign’ Language on Envelope Does Not Violate FDCPA

The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri recently granted a debt collector’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, holding an internal account number displayed on the envelope of a demand letter did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because it did not reveal the plaintiff was a debtor. A copy of the opinion in McShann v. Northland Group, Inc. is available at: Link to Opinion.  In March 2014, the debt collector sent a demand letter regarding a consumer debt owed by the plaintiff. The letter’s envelope had a window in which the plaintiff’s name,…

11th Cir. Holds Florida Statute Prohibiting Fees to Pay by Credit Card Unconstitutional

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently struck down Florida’s “anti-surcharge” statute, Fla. Stat. § 501.0117, holding that the Florida law prohibiting charging a fee to pay by credit card was an unconstitutional restriction of free speech. A copy of the opinion in Dana’s Railroad Supply, et al v. Attorney General, State of Florida is available at: Link to Opinion.  Four small businesses filed suit after receiving cease-and-desist letters from the Florida Attorney General demanding they refrain from charging lower prices for customers using cash and higher prices for those using credit cards, and demanding that they refrain from…

SD Fla Holds Borrowers of ‘Surrendered’ Property Have No Right to Contest Foreclosure

In a case addressing what it means to “surrender” property under the Bankruptcy Code, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently held that a Chapter 7 trustee’s abandonment of real property only restores legal title to the debtors as if no bankruptcy petition had been filed, and does not also give the debtors the right to contest the mortgagee’s foreclosure if the debtors elected to surrender the property. A copy of the opinion in Failla v. Citibank, NA is available at: Link to Opinion. Husband and wife debtors defaulted on their mortgage and the mortgagee sued to foreclose.…

Credit Bureau Settles FCRA Class Action Alleging Reporting Errors

A credit reporting agency has settled a long-pending class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, agreeing to pay more than $3 million and remove from its consumer credit reports judgments entered in Virginia General District Court. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class action, Soutter v. Equifax Information Services LLC, was given the green light in April, with U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne agreeing the standards for class certification had been met. In the class claim, plaintiff Donna K. Soutter contended Equifax willfully violated the FCRA when it failed to take reasonable…

7th Cir. Reverses Denial of Class Cert. in FDCPA ‘Time-Barred Debt’ Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently reversed a district court’s denial of class certification in a putative class action alleging that a debt collector violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by sending supposedly misleading letters to Illinois residents trying to collect time-barred debts. A copy of the opinion in Scott McMahon v. LVNV Funding, LLC is available at:  Link to Opinion. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant debt collector violated the FDCPA because it sent “dunning letters containing language that would mislead an unsophisticated consumer into believing that the debt is legally enforceable” even…

Congress Adds New Exception to GLBA Annual Privacy Act Notices

Section 75001 of the recently enacted Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act provides a new exception to the annual privacy notice requirement under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). The language of the provision is as follows: SEC. 75001. EXCEPTION TO ANNUAL PRIVACY NOTICE REQUIREMENT UNDER THE GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT. Section 503 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6803) is amended by adding at the end the following: (f) EXCEPTION TO ANNUAL NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—A financial institution that— (1) provides nonpublic personal information only in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b)(2) or (e) of section 502 or regulations prescribed under section 504(b), and…

FDCPA Lawsuit Tossed for Failure to Disclose Claim in Bankruptcy Petition

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey recently dismissed a debtor’s claims for violations of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the New Jersey Truth in Consumer Contract Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA), holding the debtor’s failure to schedule his lawsuit as an asset of his bankruptcy estate deprived him of standing to later assert the claims. A copy of the opinion in Lewis v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC is available at: Link to Opinion. In March 2015, the debtor filed a lawsuit alleging the defendant sent him a letter in an attempt to collect a debt…